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Removal of Magnesium from Liquor Produced by Nickel Mining by Crystallization

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  • First Online:
Energy Technology 2017

Part of the book series: The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series ((MMMS))

Abstract

Mining of nickel ores generates large volumes of waste that must be removed in order to eliminate water contamination and reduce environmental impacts created by waste barriers. In this context, the need for innovations concerning the recovery of magnesium present in the liquor produced by the leaching of nickel laterite with sulfuric acid arises. Therefore, this work aims to develop a study regarding the crystallization of magnesium from a synthetic liquor solution using a batch autoclave system at high temperature . Agitation speed was kept constant at 1000 rpm throughout the 3 h of batch reaction for temperatures of 230 and 200 °C. Aliquots taken at each hour were analyzed by ion chromatography to measure magnesium concentration. The highest magnesium removal was observed for temperature 230 °C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (EDS-SEM) analysis proved that the product formed was magnesium sulphate monohydrate crystals. Thermogravimetric analysis coupled with a mass spectrometer was used for the evaluation of the thermal stability of magnesium sulphate monohydrate. It was found that MgO and SO2 were formed by the decomposition of the salt at 1100 °C.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical Engineering Department, Polytechnic School, University of São Paulo, Rua do Lago, 250, 2nd Floor, São Paulo, SP, 05508-080, Brazil

    Kristine Bruce Wanderley, Denise Crocce Romano Espinosa & Jorge A. Soares Tenório

Authors
  1. Kristine Bruce Wanderley
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  2. Denise Crocce Romano Espinosa
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  3. Jorge A. Soares Tenório
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jorge A. Soares Tenório .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Alaska System , Fairbanks, Alaska, USA

    Lei Zhang

  2. 512 Minerals & Matls Engg Bldg, Michigan Technological Univ 512 Minerals & Matls Engg Bldg, Houghton, Michigan, USA

    Jaroslaw W. Drelich

  3. IND LLC , South Jordan, Utah, USA

    Neale R. Neelameggham

  4. Idaho National Laboratory , Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA

    Donna Post Guillen

  5. CSIRO , Canberra, Australia

    Nawshad Haque

  6. Carnegie Mellon University , Pittsburgh, USA

    Jingxi Zhu

  7. Queensland University of Technology , Brisbane, Australia

    Ziqi Sun

  8. Nucor Steel , Manila, Arkansas, USA

    Tao Wang

  9. Purdue University , West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

    John A Howarter

  10. Turku, Finland

    Fiseha Tesfaye

  11. Department of Basic Sciences/Physic, Al Isra University Department of Basic Sciences/Physic, Amman, Jordan

    Shadia Ikhmayies

  12. Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Elsa Olivetti

  13. Proval Partners SA , Lausanne, Switzerland

    Mark William Kennedy

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© 2017 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society

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Wanderley, K.B., Espinosa, D.C.R., Soares Tenório, J.A. (2017). Removal of Magnesium from Liquor Produced by Nickel Mining by Crystallization. In: Zhang, L., et al. Energy Technology 2017. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52192-3_23

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